Leibniz, Whitehead and the Metaphysics of Causation [Hardcover]

Introduces the reader to Whitehead's complex and often misunderstood metaphysics by showing that it deals with questions about the nature of causation originally raised by the philosophy of Leibniz. Whitehead's philosophy is an attempt at rehabilitating Leibniz's theory of monads by recasting it in terms of novel ontological categoriesPreface and Acknowledgements Introduction: From Leibniz to Whitehead The Conception of Substance: Whitehead, Russell, and Leibniz The Relevance of Leibniz: Ward's Theory of Monads The Phenomenology of Causation: Whitehead and Hume The Metaphysics of Causation: Whitehead, Hume, and James The Reality of Forms: Whitehead's Theistic Argument The Final View: the Dipolar Conception of God Epilogue: Is a Leibnizian Metaphysics Still Possible Today? Notes Bibliography IndexPIERFRANCESCO BASILE teaches?Philosophy at the University of Bern, Switzerland. His publications include Experience and Relations: An Examination of F. H. Bradley's Conception of Reality (1999) and several articles and edited books on the origin of analytic philosophy, British idealism and process philosophy.?